Premio Kakoy Carnaval Artesanal

An annual Ministry of Culture prize awarded during Mindelo's carnival parade on Rua de Lisboa, recognising spontaneous, unregistered costuming and street creativity rather than the choreographed official carnival groups' formal float competitions. No advance sign-up is required to compete for it, and evaluators judge the street directly rather than reviewing submitted designs beforehand.

A prize named after a single, half-remembered figure of Mindelo carnival lore rewards exactly the part of Sao Vicente's carnival that resists the organised, competitive blocos: the Premio Kakoy honours spontaneous carnival, the unregistered, improvised costuming and street creativity that longtime residents describe as the tradition's original differentiating spirit, before large formal groups came to dominate the main parade.